EIF partners with Groupama AM and Tikehau Capital to support an innovative fund for European SMEs

Groupama AM and Tikehau Capital are jointly launching Groupama Tikehau Diversified Debt Fund (GTDDF), an investment vehicle designed for the direct financing of the economy. This new fund, in which the European Investment Fund (EIF) is the anchor investor, is dedicated to financing European and mainly French SMEs.

Groupama Tikehau Diversified Debt Fund (GTDDF) is the first fund co-designed by two asset management companies with the aim of supporting French and European SMEs in their international development, investment, growth and innovation projects. The fund will offer distinctive long-term credit solutions (including bonds, euro PP or unitranche debt), for individual amounts included between EUR 1m and EUR 10m, to better meet companies’ financing needs.

This specialised professional fund, with a 12 year maturity, has just executed its first closing for a total of EUR 115m, including commitments from the European Investment Fund (EIF), Groupama and Tikehau Capital. Fund management has been delegated by Groupama AM to Tikehau IM.

Guillaume Arnaud, CEO of Tikehau IM said: “The launch of this fund marks the culmination of our work with the teams of Groupama AM and the European Investment Fund to offer targeted financing solutions adapted to individual companies. Through this fund, Tikehau Capital asserts the expertise it has developed in recent years in financing European SMEs.”

Jean-Marie Catala, Deputy CEO of Groupama AM, declared: “The project arose from an initiative, called “MEDEF investment accelerator”, to develop a financing platform dedicated to SMEs and SOHOs. It aims to encourage institutional investors (insurance companies, mutual funds and others) to devote a portion of their investments to SMEs.”

Pier Luigi Gilibert, Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund, said: “This agreement with Tikehau IM and Groupama AM represents a further step in EIF’s strategy aimed at strengthening ties between institutional investors’ contributions and the development and growth of SMEs and intermediate-sized companies in Europe. This fund will drive job creation, growth and innovation opportunities in France. In selecting strategies in line with this objective, we intend to facilitate private fundraising for innovative SMEs that support job creations.”

Groupama Tikehau Diversified Debt Fund will be distributed until March 2020. The fund has the status of a “fonds de prêt à l’économie” (a fund directly financing the economy).